The Best Part of Waking Up is Foster's in Your Cup
by Dude13
Summary: Its probably better to drink orange juice in the morning instead, as shown by a  eight year old little boy's unexpected rampage.[Oneshot]


Well, "Good Wilt Hunting" came and went, kinda messing a little with the basic plot for my entire series originally set up by "More Than My Friend/Falling Apart".

But besides some slight possible revisions I might make to chapter three of "Falling Apart", I'm just going to continue with writing as usual.

Apologies for the lack of updates on "Wishing Only Wounds the Heart" - my co-author lucyrocks73 is dealing with a lot of school-related business at the moment, and as am I with semester finals coming up, plus half a dozen other various major assignments.

As usual, please read and review!

**Author's Warning:** Like everything else, this takes place in my series, set up by the events in my first story "More Than My Friend" where the big event is that Frankie adopts Mac as her "little brother". If you haven't read that story yet, I strongly suggest you do so now, or else you might be terribly confused.

Disclaimer: I don't own Foster's or the Folgers slogan.

* * *

"…Are you _sure_ he's actually gonna take the bait?" 

"_Trust_ me, that's not just any cupcake I set out there, that's a chocolate-frosted cupcake with rainbow sprinkles. _No_ one will can resist the temptation to snack on one of those beauties."

"But if _no_ one ever can resist…what if someone else takes it 'fore Mac comes by?"

"…Oh _man_, I hope not; I thank I ate any possible back-up bait earlier this morning, and-"

"Awww, c'monnnnn!"

"What's your deal?"

"Honestly, why'd ya halfta do _that_? You saw him, he's gone absolutely super nutty _crazy_! If we don't catch him now-"

"Hey! Don't get snappy with me, missy! _Who_ was it who searched the entire shed out back to get-"

"Well _who_ was it who made Mac go totally whacky-cuckoo in the first place, Mister Smartypants?"

"_Hey_! Look, I'm only gonna say it _one_ more time, I didn't know that-_AUGH_!"

"_YEEEK_!"

The little azure blob and his pigtailed companion squealed in shock as they each suddenly received a hard jab in the back in quick succession. With hearts pounding like a pair of kettledrums in their chests, the duo hastily scrambled under the antique sofa they had been using as a makeshift barrier moments before, squeaking in fright all the while as they made a hasty retreat. Hugging each other miserably as they joined up in a tight huddle, both child and imaginary friend held their breaths as they heard a burst of commotion outside their impromptu hiding place – followed by a familiar scarlet-haired visage coming into view as their "attacker" peered down into the improvised shelter.

Frances "Frankie" Foster gazed upon the two quivering bundles of misery for only a second before she rolled her eyes and emitted a long, painful sigh. There was no need for beating around the bush, by the way the pair looked as if they were amount to have a massive heart-attack, all signs pointed to the fact that something was clearly amiss here.

"Okay, okay…what did you guys do _now_?" she groaned wearily, severely dreading the possibility of yet another aftermath of some unthinkable calamity to tend to.

"N-nothing! Nothing at all!" Bloo hurriedly blurted out as he scooted back further a few inches away from the young woman, quivering like a leaf in a windstorm. "We…we were just…j-just…uh…"

"We w-were just playin' a game, that's all, Frankie!" Goo chimed in, as the little imaginary friend nodded his head furiously in agreement.

"Yeah, yeah that's right!" he chuckled nervously, furiously rubbing his blobbish stubs together in his gut-churning high anxiety. "Just a game, nothing more!"

Rather than be foolishly swayed by such a slipshod excuse, Frankie just cocked an eyebrow and cast a stern glaze, obviously not buying the miserably slapdash tale for a moment.

"Hiding out behind a couch only to scream like a pack of banshees the second someone shows up sure doesn't sound like much fun to _me_." she objected flatly, much to the pair's utter despair.

"But Fra-" Goo tried to speak up in their defense before the redhead silenced her with a fierce wag of her finger.

"Nuh-uh! Trust me, I'm _not_ in the mood for this. C'mon, what were you _really_ doing back here?" she demanded wearily.

"N-nothing…" Bloo muttered lamely as he tried to avert her gaze.

"Pfft! Yeah, right!" Frankie snorted incredulously as she cast a quick glance over her shoulder. "I know you guys were definitely watching _something_, because I_- SWEET MOTHER OF GOD_!"

Going ashen-faced with mortified horror, the redhead nabbed hold of her broom and hastily scrambled back to her feet. Going at a speed that would make an Olympic runner jealous, she racied into the middle of the foyer, raised the cleaning implement high-

_SNAP_!

An in an instant, the handle was completely obliterated in a shower of splinters. Yes, the caretaker was now short one perfectly good broom in which to perform her household duties. But fortunately, at least she had successfully disarmed the massive steel _bear trap_ that had been set out upon the floor.

Quivering uncontrollably with blind fury and with her face glowing brightly with the heat of an industrial furnace, Frankie resembled the very paradigm of rage as she hefted the antique hunting device for the two concealed little ones to see.

"WHAT…DO…YOU…THINK….YOU'RE…._DOING_?" she snarled, so pulsing with seething anger that she could barely force the words out through her tightly gritted teeth. Bloo shuddered violently as he sheepishly peered out from under the sofa.

"We…we were just…"

"Just what? Just _WHAT_?" Frankie shrieked, hurling the bear trap to the floor with a tremendous clatter as she unleashed the full force of her infamous fits of fury. "A _bear trap_? A _bear trap_? My God, a _bear trap_? You actually set up a _bear trap_ and just left it out here? For _what_? Were you actually trying to rip off someone's leg? For the love of all that is holy, _where_ on earth did you manage to find this? I didn't even know that they _made_ these anymore, how in the world did you...oh of all the insane schemes I've seen-"

"P-please, you g-g-gotta understand!" Goo begged piteously as both she and Bloo swiftly withdrew back into their refuge. "W-we didn't know what else t-t-to do, and…and…"

"What do you mean? I just had to disarm a steel animal trap! What on earth possessed you two to-"

"Frankie, _please_!" Bloo squealed miserably. "You gotta set it back up, it's the only way! There's no telling what he's gonna do unless we get him! It's our only hope!"

As the duo blubbered piteously in blind terror, even Frankie couldn't help but restrain herself from venting further upon them, despite the intense pangs of anger surging through every inch of her body at that moment. True, the fact that they had actually managed to find a trap that would easily ensnare a full-grown grizzly bear was _far_ from proper house etiquette. But the girl couldn't help but pause and wonder as she glanced into the ghastly pale faces of the normally effervescent little girl and the normally upbeat and mischievous azure blob. What unthinkably terrible predicament could reduce them to such a state of pitiful desperation?

"Guys?" she inquired, hastily lowering the tone of her voice so as not to startle the badly frazzled pair any further, quickly realizing that something nightmarishly horrendous was afoot. "Could you _please_ just tell me what you were using this for?"

"We…w-w-we…" Bloo stammered dumbly, while Goo, in the ultimate twist of irony, for the first time of her life seemed to be at a complete loss of words as she quivered like a Jell-O mold in the midst of an immense earthquake.

"C-c'mon you two..." Frankie demanded again in an unavoidable quaver, horribly unnerved by the others' behavior, which was miles away from encouraging. "J-just tell me what's going on-"

The redhead paused again as a sad little lump of chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles caught her eye. Curious, she bent down and carefully scooped up the remains of what had once been the scrumptious cupcake set out as bait earlier.

"What in the world-"

Unfortunately, she could go no further with her musing before Goo suddenly overcame her temporary bout of muteness to shriek at the top of her lungs,

"LOOK OUT FRA-"

_WHAM_!

Before the screamed warning could be completed, a chestnut-haired blur suddenly rocketed into the foyer with a velocity that would've left a cheetah flabbergasted. In an instant, Frankie was suddenly rammed square in the gut with what felt like a massive medieval battering ram. Eliciting a screech of pain, she helplessly bowled over by her tiny assailant, who managed to rip the cupcake clean from her hands and escape into the dining room all in the blink of an eye.

For a few seconds, the foyer was cloaked in a dead silence. That, or her hearing had been horribly damaged by the colossal blow she had received – Frankie wouldn't have doubted it at the moment. Groaning in pain, the young woman lay sprawled upon the floor in a pitiful heap, desperately trying to get her thoughts in order while the room seemed to spin around her.

After they had made sure the coast was clear, Bloo and Goo cautiously plodded out from their refuge and silently plodded over to the downed caretaker, meeting her still badly blurred vision as they huddled about her. Still moaning in agony, Frankie clutched at her horrendously aching gut as she stared blankly at the two, who glared right back with rather unusually guilty grimaces.

When what he deemed a sufficient amount of time had passed for him to prepare himself, Bloo heaved a deep sigh, reached out from behind him – and to Frankie's mortified terror, held up what was clearly an empty can of Colombian ground coffee.

"We didn't mean to…we were trying to find the instant hot cocoa and…and…well, we thought this would be the same…" he tried to explain rather sheepishly to the wide-eyed caretaker. "We weren't sure though, so I made Mac try and taste the first cup…b-but he said that didn't do, so he also volunteered to try the second cup…and the t-third…"

"Fourth one, w-we couldn't really stop him…" Goo squeaked as she scuffed her boots against the floor. "And by the time the fifth one came around, we-"

The two broke out into earsplitting squeals of terror when Frankie's arms suddenly shot up and grabbed them firmly by the scruffs of their necks, dragging the two wildly squirming little ones within a hairsbreadth of her furious grimace.

"I don't know about you two," she hissed venomously under her breath, "But I am _NOT_ raising that kid to be a human freight train!"

* * *

"….But that's not fairrrrrrr!" Bloo whined piteously as he and Goo trailed the fuming redhead down the hallway. Frankie whipped her head around momentarily to glare daggers at the protesting blob, nearly slicing him clean in half with the intensity of her glower. 

"Keep it up Blooregard, 'cuz I'm _not_ changing my mind." She snapped, forcing the indignant Bloo to break out into a mad dance of frustration.

"No! Aw, c'monnnnn, Frankie! It's not fair! It's just not fair! It's not-"

"No TV and no video games for three weeks? I think that's plenty fair, seeing as _you_ were the one who let the kid who can't have any caffeine or sugar chug an entire pot of coffee on his own." Franke countered fiercely. "Honestly, I can't believe you two…"

"But we just wanted Mac to test it, that's all, y'know, to see if it tasted like cocoa…" The little imaginary friend whimpered in defense, to which Frankie only rolled her eyes.

"Then _one_ cup should've been enough, not an entire week's worth of the stuff!" she hissed, forcing the badly spooked little imaginary friend to hastily give the seething caretaker a little more space. Fortunately, Frankie was in no mood to vent upon the azure miscreant, she had much more pressing matters to tend to at the moment, one being the hopped-up eight-year-old rampaging about the old Victorian mansion. Muttering darkly under her breath, she tucked her hands into her sweater pockets and plodded on.

"…So what're we gonna do _now_?" Goo trilled curiously as she skipped along in tow. "I mean, we can't use the bear trap anymore, 'cuz you said it'd take somebody's leg clean off, with lotsa lotsa blood an' screamin' and unnecessary paperwork for the insurance company an' stuff….do we gotta call Animal Control now? I know Mac's not an animal or somethin', but when we first went loco-crazy he kinda reminded me of this nasty ol' stray dog that just to wander 'round my street, and he's just run 'round an' 'round an' 'round, barkin' and snappin' and goin' totally whacko-looney, an'-"

"Goo," Frankie sighed, weary of always playing the role of the Voice of Rationality "We're _not_ calling in Animal Control to try and take down a hyperactive eight-year-old."

"So then what?" the child squeaked confusedly. "We can't just-"

"Oh yes we can." The caretaker objected, patting a queer-looking bulge in her emerald jacket. "Trust me, I've _definitely_ got this covered."

"_You_?" Goo yelped incredulously, pausing to jab a finger at the overconfident redhead.

"Of course! He's _my_ little brother, why can't I-"

"But did you _see_ Mac?" she squealed in horror, bouncing up and down excitedly. "No, you didn't! You didn't! He's like a lightin' bolt in a red shirt and khaki pants! No one can get a good look at him, it's like when you're at a racecar track, and you're up near the front to try and spot all the super cool cars, but you can't, 'cuz they're all like "_ZOOM_" and they race by and you totally miss them 'cuz they were goin' super-super-ultra-fast, and then you get all cranky an' disappointed 'cuz you really wanted to see them but-"

Frankie just shook her head wearily as she continued to trot onwards, deciding it would be useless to try and stop the child in mid-chatter – she had seen waterfalls that babbled less than that girl. Pushing that all aside, the caretaker hastily began to try and gather her thoughts together in preparation for her plan. There was no telling when they'd come across that human bullet again, so if she was going to have any chance of pulling this off, she had to be ready when the time came…

Which coincidentally just happened to be right that very second.

"HERE HE COMES!" Bloo screamed in gut-wrenching terror, pointing furiously at a small blur rapidly descending upon them from the far end of the hallway. Instinctively Goo and her imaginary companion went utterly pale-faced upon first glance, shrieking with fright as they immediately dived out of the way behind a nearby houseplant. However, while they huddled together, quivering uncontrollably in blind horror, Frankie didn't even budge so much as an inch from where she stood in the middle of the hallway.

"What're you, _CRAZY_?" Goo screeched, frantically gesturing to the redhead. "Get outta the way, he-"

The caretaker paid absolutely no heed to the pitiful pleas for her to take cover. Showing absolutely no sign of wavering in her stance, the young woman remained as she was standing steadfastly with her arms folded and her face set into a fiercely stoic expression. Frankie didn't even do so much as bat an eyelid as the rampaging child grew closer and closer, until…

"Mac Foster, **_STOP_**!" Frankie barked loudly like a reprimanding mother.

Like magic, the brown-haired blur immediately did as told and skidded to a dead halt only a few feet away from the girl. Frankie paused for a moment or two to admire her handiwork as she broke out into a triumphant smirk. Well, _that_ certainly hadn't been very hard, heaven only knew why the others had been so hysterical about their friend. Then again, _they_ didn't possess the skill and expertise an experienced "big sister" such as herself had to take down a child possessed by the demons of hyperactivity and an overabundance of sugar-induced energy. But then again, Mac didn't look that bad at all, now that see finally got a good look at him – minus the fact that his eyes were now the size of dinner plates and he was twitching worse than a paranoid schizophrenic.

Smiling jubilantly, Frankie reached into her pockets and wrapped a hand around the kiddy harness she had concealed within.

"Hey, pal…" she crooned gently, so as not to startle the child.

"H-h-h-h-hi F-F-F-F-Frankie…" Mac managed to squeak, sounding like he was trapped in the midst of a colossal earthquake as he quivered uncontrollably from head to toe. Frankie's grin grew a little as she noticed he seemed to be making no moves for any hasty escape, not even when she slowly began to inch her way forward.

"You doing okay? Huh? Are ya?" she continued to coo in the sweetest tone of voice she could muster, smiling disarmingly as she slowly made her way towards her target.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Yeah…." The eight-year-old muttered with a nod as the caretaker cautiously grew closer. Despite the fact that he was trembling like a hypothermia patient, Mac didn't seem to be preparing to be making any preparations for a bolt for freedom, choosing instead to dutifully stay put in accordance with his guardian's wishes. Quavering wildly and fidgeting worse than a fussy toddler, he managed to hold himself in place as Frankie finally came to within inches away, much to her relief and to Goo and Bloo's total shock.

"There we go!" she laughed, patting him affectionately on the head as if he were an obedient puppy. "Great job, pal! Now, I'm gonna need you to stand still like this for just a few more moments, okay? It won't be long, I just gotta-"

* * *

"Madame Foster? Excuse me! Madame Foster?" 

The petite old woman beamed happily as soon as she spotted the lanky imaginary friend sprinting towards her.

"Well hello there, Wilt! Is everything all right?" she asked concernedly like a nurturing grandmother. Wilt just flashed his trademark smile and chuckled merrily.

"Yeah, everything's just fine, don't worry." He laughed. "I was just looking for Frankie, see, and-"

"Oh, she's just fine! But if you need anything, just give her a few minutes for her to finish up her game, okay?" Madame Foster said all-too-cheerily, still wearing her ridiculously happy grin. Wilt however, obviously did not share in on her glee as a look of utter befuddlement quickly adorned his features.

"…What?" he muttered, perplexed. Madame Foster tittered merrily as gave the imaginary friend a playful prod with her cane.

"Oh you know, she's just taking some time out to play with the little ones, nothing new. Isn't that right, dearie?" she called, right before an earsplitting screech nearly forced the horrendously stunned Wilt to jump clear out of his skin.

"_HELP_ _MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE_!"

Wilt gasped as he instinctively began to rub his good eye furiously, praying that it was all nothing more than some bizarre mind trick or hallucination. Alas, when he took another glance, his senses did not lie. There they all were, as clear as could be; a seemingly possessed eight-year-old clad in a harness and effortlessly dragging along a muddle consisting of a hollering azure blob, a whooping pigtailed little girl, and a redheaded young woman shrieking at the top of her lungs as she was helplessly pulled along.

"Grandma! Grandma!" Frankie yelped hysterically, waving a free hand wildly in a frantic gesture for assistance. "Help! Help! Help! _HELP_!"

"Dial 911! Call the National Guard! He's unstoppable, I tell you!" Bloo wailed, gripping on desperately for dear life.

"YAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Goo only yelped merrily, gleefully treating the entire ludicrous predicament as if it were nothing more than an amusement park ride. "Faster, Mac! Faster!"

"Oh God, no!" Frankie begged as the half-crazed Mac did a three hundred and sixty-degree turn, swinging the trio about as if they weighed only a few goose feathers.

"Grandma, puh-_LEEZE_!" The redhead begged desperately to her grandparent as she began to wildly gesture anew. "We-"

Madame Foster only shook with mirth as she eagerly waved back at her granddaughter, enjoying he spectacle of what she took to be nothing more than an innocent child's game for all it was worth.

"Yes, yes, I see you, dearie! You all have fun now, okay?"

"ARRRGH!" Frankie howled in aggravation as she struggled furiously to anchor the berserk little boy in place. "No, you don't understand! What we need is hel-_OW_! Oh, for the love of-"

The redhead began to curse venomously as Mac sped around a corner, forcing his would-be captors to slam against the wall is they made the sharp turn. Wincing painfully at the sight, Wilt wasted no time and sped off after the others, while Madame Foster just chuckled softly to herself as she hobbled off to her room.

"Ah, to be young again…" she laughed.

* * *

"HEEEEEEELLLLLLLP!" Frankie screamed for the umpteenth time as Mac showed no signs of slowing down, dragging his friends along at a breakneck pace up and down Foster's winding hallways, going at such a velocity even Wilt found himself having difficulty catching up. 

"Guys! Guys!" he cried, gasping for breath as he struggled to keep them in view. "Guys, over here!"

"WILT!" the caretaker shrieked in relief as she caught sight of him. "Oh, thank God! Quick, we need you to-"

"Hiiiii Wilt!" Goo whooped, waving furiously in warm greeting. "You want a ride, too? Hop on, it's _great_! You just gotta-"

"Frankie!" The imaginary friend cried incredulously. "What are you-"

"No time for dumb questions!" Frankie shrieked, wriggling helplessly about like a fish trapped on a line. "My wrist is caught! I can't get out!"

"Well, what do you want me to-"

"_Candy_!" The redhead shrieked with the utmost urgency, causing the sorely confused imaginary friend to slow down his pace a little and try and comprehend her words.

"_What_? Frankie, I don't-"

"Candy! Cake! Soda! Chocolate! Fudge! Anything!" She bellowed as she skidded along the hall floor. "Just make sure it's loaded with an unhealthy amount of sugar or caffeine! Please! I'm begging you!"

"Oh! Oh, right! Sorry! Sorry!" Wilt gasped in apology, quickly catching on to her plan. "Yeah, yeah I got it, I got it! After that, I'll see if I can lure Mac into a closet or something, okay? Just lemme-"

"HURRRYYYYYYYYY!" Frankie wailed as the deranged Mac put on an extra burst of speed and blasted off down the hall, still effortlessly tugging the unfortunate trio behind him.

"_Augh_! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" The scarlet-furred creature cried as he took off as fast as his unusually long legs could carry him. Within a matter of moments he had successfully done his part and was sprinting pell-mell about the expansive Victorian mansion, clutching a chocolate bar tightly in hand, courtesy of Bloo's secret stash tucked under his mattress. Glancing about frantically, his heart pounding like a drum in his chest in his panic, the imaginary friend raced about like a chicken with its head cut off, until finally he was forced to come to a dead halt to try and catch his breath.

"F-Frankie?" he wheezed, bent over as he gulped in large gasps of fresh air. "Bloo? Goo? C'mon guys, where are –_WHOA_!"

"_GIMME_!" Mac snarled like a deranged lunatic, seemingly materializing from nowhere and leaping majestically through their air, ripping the sugar-loaded treat out of the horribly stunned imaginary friend's hand in one deft movement.

It was truly an awesome sight to behold.

Too bad that Wilt had just happened to take his short respite right on top of a staircase.

"OH, _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_!" Frankie wailed in despair as she plummeted downwards, taking the two young ones holding on tightly to her sweater along with her as they seemed to clear every single stair.

"I REGRET NOTHING!" Bloo tried to yell heroically, right before he broke out into a terrified shriek that a frightened three-year-old little girl wouldn't be able to match had she been thrown into a cage with a pack of deranged circus clowns.

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Goo only squealed in wild exhilaration as she tightened her tenaciously hold on Frankie's sweater and sailed through the air with the rest of them, floating weightlessly for a few brief moments, before…

_CRASH!_

Within seconds, their wild ride had come to a painfully abrupt halt. Gulping nervously, Wilt peered cautiously down at the wreckage belowand instinctively winced at the sight of the scattered, unmoving bodies.

"Guys?" he whispered softly in a noticeable quaver. "G-guys? You okay?"

After a few gut-wrenchingly tense moments, an extremely dazed and sore-looking Bloo managed to roll onto his back and flash a brief grin as he glanced at his unconscious creator lying a few feet away.

"Well, at least Mac isn't movin' anymore…"

Frankie hissed as she positioned her aching head to glower at the cheeky little blob with a scowl that would've made a death-row convict soil himself.

"As of this moment, I despise you more than anything else in the world..."

* * *

"My...m-my head hurts…" Mac whimpered as he held an ice pack tightly to his throbbing skull. Despite the pitiful sight that the boy cut, Mr. Herriman however didn't even flash so blink in response to the child's lament as he glared frostily from across his desk. 

"Be that as it may, Master Mac, don't think you'll be weaseling your way out of this by seeking any pity from me, you rascal. After all the havoc that you've managed to cause here today, I can't even imagine who on earth would be able to grant you so much as an ounce of sympathy-"

"Hey, hey, cool it, will ya, Drill Sergeant Fuzz-for-Brains." Frankie snapped as she readjusted the little boy's compress. "The little guy plowed headfirst down the main staircase only half-an-hour ago, the least you can do is-"

"I understand your concern for your charge, Miss Frances," the aged imaginary friend continued, pushing her protests aside. "But this is no time to coddle the child right after he went on a horrific rampage in which you yourself were-"

"I know, I know, I know, but that _wasn't_ his fault! I just told you, Bloo caused the whole thing by tricking Mac into downing an entire gallon of coffee because that miserable little blob has an IQ of a head of cabbage!" The redhead shot back with a snarl, clearly in no mood to deal with the rabbit's authoritarian logic. "Give him a break or something! Right, pal? I'm sure you didn't-"

"Yeah...I'm s-sorry, F-Frankie I d-didn't mean to...I just...I…I'm...I'm...I'm...I'm tired…" Mac whined as he began to lean forward heavily in his seat. Hastily Frankie cut herself off as she nabbed hold of the eight-year-old before he tumbled to the floor in a heap.

"_See_?" she growled as she righted him safely in the armchair. "The little guy can barely keep his eyes open. If you think if I'm going to stand by and let you punish a little kid for receiving massive head trauma after being forced to go on a caffeine-induced reign or terror through no fault of his own, then buster, you have another thing coming-"

"Miss Frances, please! I apologize for my tone earlier, but I assure you, annoyed as I am with him, I shall _not_ punish Master Mac."

Frankie heaved a sigh of relief as she patted her adopted little brother's shoulder comfortingly. "_Finally_, you're seeing things straight for once-"

"Precisely, Miss Frances, and to make sure that the boy isn't drawn into any other such plow plots into the future, I henceforth shall ban all coffee and other such products of such said bean from this household." The rabbit decreed flatly.

The second the unthinkable reached her ears, the young woman's jaw nearly hit the floor as she gawked at him stupidly in dumb shock.

"…_What_?" she whimpered, rapidly going pale in the face.

"You heard me quite clearly, Miss Frances." He explained, not at all noticing the hysterical panic taking hold of the horrified caretaker. "After all, you're the only one who imbibes the beverage around here, and after seeing the obvious dangers of keeping it inside the house, I-"

"No! Oh no! Nuh-uh, nuh-_uh_!" Frankie protested fiercely as she gestured franticly with her hands, eager to save her favorite caffeine-loaded beverage. "I'm all for taking some kind of action, here, but there is _no_ way that we're gonna-"

"What? What on earth are you talking about? Miss Frances, it's only-"

"Don't "it's only" me, Long-Ears!" the young woman countered ferociously, jabbing a finger at the badly befuddled Mr. Herriman. "I put up with a _lot_ with you, but you've _really_ crossed the line this time! You're not-"

"Settle down, Miss Frances!" Mr. Herriman barked. "Why on earth you're making such a horrific fuss about this I have absolutely no idea, but it'll be a monkey's uncle if some atrocious catastrophe befalls us simply because I've taken away your beloved early-morning drink. Honestly, young lady, I-"

* * *

"…Don't believe it, I don't believe this, I simply _don't_ believe it." Mr. Herriman muttered ruefully to himself. The aged imaginary rabbit emanated a heavy sigh as he pityingly observed the pathetic spectacle he had come across while on the way to breakfast that morning – one weary lump of a redheaded young woman and one equally exhausted-looking little boy lying sprawled upon the foyer floor. Both of them stared out blankly into nothingness as they lay like a pair of sandbags, obviously not possessing a single ounce of energy between them. 

Foster's Head of Business Affairs grumbled darkly under his breath as he rubbed his temples, clearly not amused – which couldn't exactly be said for the nearby little pigtailed girl and the blob of an imaginary friend. Bloo and Goo carelessly crawled about and inspected their fallen friends, treating them with the same reverence a toddler treats a dead frog.

"Mac?" Bloo trilled as he lifted his creator's life arm and let it flop again to the floor. Mac wriggled a little bit and elicited a barely audible moan, but as he did little else, his imaginary friend eagerly repeated the process, supplementing his inquiries and carelessness with the occasional curious poke. Goo likewise gave Frankie the same fashion of irreverence, tugging gently upon the motionless caretaker's ponytail as she shot Mr. Herriman a perplexed grimace.

"Are they _dead_?" she squeaked, to which Frankie lifted her head slightly to glower at her employer through a set of disgustingly bleary eyeballs.

"No, but it sure feels like it." She murmured, to which Mr. Herriman promptly let forth with an irritated huff.

"Miss Frances, please, what on earth-"

"Well you forced both of us to go totally cold turkey yesterday, right after Mac inhaled an entire can of the stuff the other morning and I've been drinking it for a few years, what _else_ did you expect?" the redhead snapped bitterly from her comical position upon the floor. "_You're_ the one who bans coffee in this household, so _you're_ the one who deals with the consequences, bub."

"_Consequences_?" The imaginary rabbit shot back, exasperated by the duo's inexplicable. "Oh please, don't tell me you can't even get to your feet simply because I-"

"Oh, if that's not the case, then please enlighten us, Mr. All Knowing Funny Bunny." Frankie sneered sarcastically, forcing her employer to break into a hideous scowl.

"You listen to me, young lady." He scolded her fiercely. "Do not go on making up tall tales how you're useless without some mere beverage, both of you obviously had to get dressed and make the walk down here-"

"Yup, and it was right here that we ran out of energy." Mac managed to murmur, which didn't exactly sway Bloo from not treating his limp form like his personal plaything as he began to wiggle the eight-year-old's leg curiously.

"_Maybe_ if we knew that we could fix up a nice pot of you-know-what in the kitchen, then we'd have some motivation to-" Frankie tried to add.

"Come now, this is absolutely _ridiculous_!" Mr. Herriman argued vehemently. "I can't believe either one of you! Master Mac, just look at you! Don't you wish to be free of that terrible habit? And Miss Frances, the least you can do is endure and try and set a good example for your charge if you want to-"

"I prefer bad parenting skills and my usual morning cup of coffee instead, thank you very much." The twenty-two-year-old murmured impudently in reply.

"No argument here." Mac chimed in, lying face down upon the tiles. Stunned by their sheer lack of compliance, Mr. Herriman gawked silently at them for a few seconds before unleashing another agonized sigh as he wagged a finger at the momentarily incapacitated miscreants.

"Fortunately for you two, today's breakfast consists of little more than cereal and fruit, so the residents will be able to serve themselves." He began to lecture.. "And I'll be the first to admit that the both of you endured quite a bit of misfortune yesterday, so I will allow some leniency. However, if I return in about thirty minutes and find both of you continuing this ridiculous drama act, then I'll fully convey my displeasure on the matter with a long personal meeting in my office. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" he barked, folding his arms and tapping his foot impatiently like some stern

"Huh?" Frankie just grunted wearily, whereas Mac wriggled about helplessly before eliciting a garble murmur that could hardly count as vaguely comprehensible English.

Heaving a deep sigh of disappointment, Mr. Herriman glared at the two lifeless lumps frostily for a few moments before abruptly turning about and exiting the scene in his usual dignified hop, muttering darkly under his breath about the atrocious addiction young people had for their caffeine. As soon as he had left, for a few awkward moments a deafening silence settled upon the foyer.

"…Is the rabbit gone yet?" Frankie suddenly inquired as she lay facedown upon the tile floor. Bloo instinctively peered over in the direction of the dining room in compliance with her inquiry.

"Yeah, I guess so…" he replied with a shrug of his nonexistent shoulders. As he continued to peer about dutifully, Goo clambered back onto her feet and began to repeatedly prod the sluggish Mac, jabbing at him like one would poke a dead lizard with a stick.

"So whatcha gonna do now?" she squeaked. "You really gonna lie about there alllllllllll day, or-"

Both little girl and imaginary friend emanated loud yelps of surprise as their friends suddenly bolted upright into sitting positions, eyes wide open and each one wearing a ridiculously devious grin.

"Haha, we got 'em!" Mac laughed, nearly quivering with excitement. Frankie giggled fiendishly as she reached over to give the child a quick high-five in jubilation.

"Oh man, I thought the bunny would _never_ leave! Heehee, and he nearly caught us on the way out, too! Good thinking back there, pal!" she squealed merrily in ecstatic relief. Giggling like a pair of schoolgirls, the pair quickly helped each other to their feet and in an instant they were sprinting like mad across the foyer, much to the total bewilderment of the completely flabbergasted Bloo and Goo.

"Hey, wait!" Bloo whined, waving his stubby little appendages wildly.

"Yeah, c'mon!" Goo protested, grimacing wryly as she struggled to comprehend the seemingly miraculous change in the siblings' behavior. "What are you-"

Immediately Frankie skidded to a complete halt and pivoted about on her foot, darting right back towards the pair.

"Okay, okay, you guys can come too! But you gotta hurry, okay?" she hastily relented, bounding behind the two and immediately hustling them none-too-gently across the floor, adding to the utter befuddlement of the perplexed little ones. Before they knew it, Frankie was roughly pushing them headlong towards the entrance as Mac flung open the front doors and gestured impatiently to them.

"C'mon, c'mon, let's go!" he yelled before sprinting down the walkway like a bat out of hell.

"Wait, wait, wait! Whoa, slow down!" Bloo wailed as the redhead picked up her pace, nabbing him tightly by the arm and dragging him along.

"Hold on! Please! Please! Oh c'mon!" Goo begged. "Can you at least tell us about the super big rush, the big badger said you had a full hour until-"

Frankie just flashed a sly wink as she herded the sorely confused duo out towards the Foster's bus.

"Yup, and that's _more_ than enough time for us to make a quick trip down to Starbucks and back!"

**The End**


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